Never gone
by SevenOverThree
Summary: In the future, Danny has lost his mind due to a horrible accident that killed eveyone he loves.. But Valerie is there to comfort him. Even if Phantom is her enemy. Phantom/Valerie attempted Fluff


**Disclaimer:** Danny phantom © Butch hartman

**Authors notes:** Something I wrote _ages_ ago while listening to Evanescence's; Away from me'.

'Never Gone' Is property of the Backstreet Boys.

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Phantom blinked as he watched the people below him. They ran in random directions, mainly away from him. He looked up, away from the ruins of the town, thinking.

_'All this... I created it, I wanted it... But now... It means nothing...'_ He sighed, and a smile crept onto his face. It didn't matter now. He ruled them, he controled them, there was no going back to who he used to be.

"Not that they'ed accept me if I did." He said, unaware of a certain red-clad huntress watching him. "And anyway, how would I? They all hate me. Even Him. Her, him, them. All of them. Everyone. But not... _Her_..." The huntress behind him chanced creeping closer, not thinking on an attack, but on gathering up any information he possibly let slip in his self-directed monologue.

"If only He had left us alone... None of this would have happened. None of it, none! None!" Phantom cried, falling once more into an enraged frenzy of uncontrolable emotions.

He whipped around, staring with anger, sadness, envy, and a spectacular range of other emotions as his tear-filled eyes shifted from soft green to a dangerous blood red. The huntress immediatly took a fighting stance on her hoverboard. Not once in their encounters had he attacked her, or anyone for that matter, but she wouldn't chance him losing any control he had and destroying people. He normally just yelled, then flying off to further destroy the already mutilated town. Today, however, their one-sided conversation took a drastic turn.

"Why?! Why didn't you stop him! She could still be here if you hadn't been so stubborn! He was right there! Right in front of you and you let him go! Why?! Tell me, Valerie!"

Valerie stared at the ghost in front of her. For so long he had never used anyones name but his own. Noone had ever found out why, but had just theorized that it connected him too strongly with the past he no longer had any control over. And for that reason, why he never used names, noone could really connect or discover who it was he talked about. Even if he spoke to someone, for some reason, he never seemed to expect an answer, and just left them utterly confused, or they never answered anyway. Today however, she was going to try and break through the violent layer above his personality.

"Who... Who is it you're talking about?" She chanced to further the subject he had started on. Red eyes flickered green.

"W-what? You don't remember? _Him_, Valerie. He was right there, all the time. All the time! You trusted him, But I knew everything! I tryed to tell you... So long I tryed, but you _never_ listened! Now look! Look at it all! He's gone now, gone forever, but he took... _Her_... He took _her_ with him. Her, her, him, them... All of them..." She thought. _Him_. She had trusted him, Phantom supposedly knew everything about him and constantly tried to tell her. But she never listened. He seemed to now be dead... Then it hit her, like a ton of bricks.

"You mean... Vlad...?" Phantom seemed stunned to hear the mans name. Anger clouded his eyes and pulses of green energy wove around his hands.

"Never once... Did you ever listen... And in the end, he took her... She's gone... Forever... And... It's... It's_ your fault_!" He yelled, the small pulses of green energy completely overtaking his normally white aura. His eyes were blood red, and devoid of anything but rage. Even by just saying Vlads name, she had pushed too far. But then, she thought quickly, Phantom never did handle anger too well around the older man. But who was the 'She'? Quickly, she turned the conversation to that very 'She' person, hoping it would calm him down.

"W-who was '_she_' Phantom? Can you tell me? Can you tell me her name?" It seemed to work, and he spoke quietly to her, in a hurt sort of tone.

"Her... She was everything... Everything to me... I loved her... And she, me... Why did he have to take her..." He seemed caught between blaming himself, Valerie or Vlad for the death of this girl. Valerie gulped, and once more pushed the subject further.

"Can you tell me her name?" He looked up at her, some sort of realization forming in his eyes.

"Her... She was... S-sss.." A look of strange pain crossed his face, and his eyes flashed back to the soft pale green she liked to see. Red meant anger, strong anger, and green meant calm. Everyone liked it when his eyes where green. Something seemed to cross his mind, and their slowly progressing conversation dissapeared like the wind, turning to something that caught her completely off-guard.

"Have you ever wondered where Grasshoppers go when it gets really damp outside? I've been wondering that for a long time now." He faded away on the wind, barely even traces of the painful emotions he had been experiancing before clinging to his face.

0o0o0o0

"-And she wasn't scared... I'm glad about that. But then, has she ever really been scared of me?" Phantom sat in front of a cracked mirror, one that was decorated with faded photos of various people from a previous life. One that no longer remained in his grasp. He continued to speak avidly to the mirror, as if it could listen.

"Y'know, sometimes I think she wants me back to my old self as well... But she has to know better. She has to learn I can't." His eyes flickered from green to an odd shade of dark red, his voice taking on a dangerously dark tone.

"And I have to be the one to teach her that lesson." He stood up, red eyes glinting in the dark room. He turned to the open window, jumping though it and lying low in wait for the girl he had deemed his 'student'.

0o0o0o0

She had hoped he had decided to remain inside wherever he lived for the rest of the night. But as usual, he had gone back out again, but wasn't moving. She knew it was likely a trap of sorts, but it was her nature to ignore the hard truth and go after her mark. And now, her mark was Phantom. She had tried reaching through to him, she had hoped that he would even just fade into nothing, she had done everything she could think of. Nothing worked.

"You should never try to bring someone back if they don't exist anymore, Valerie. I learned that when I tried to bring_ her_ back. But demolished wishes and dreams shouldn't be held onto once they've passed." She heard him say wisely. He was floating just above the street, and his eyes where a dangerous blood red. He walked forward, as if he was standing on an invisible floor, until he was floating directly in front of her.

"Did you ever wonder why me and Fenton where never in the same place at the same time? Or why Fenton just... Disappeared, without a trace? Disappeared, and never returned?" He tossed the question out at her, pausing to give Valerie time to respond.

"Danny disappeared because _you_ killed him!" Much to her surprise, a hurt look flashed across Phantoms face.

"No... No, you don't get it... Didn't kill him, he still lives... Still lives... Still in here..." He began to mutter to himself, placing a hand over his heart, or where it would've been had Phantom been alive. "Can't ever get rid of... of him... Can't become... Won't become... I _won't_...!" He yelled, charging his hands up with ectoplasmic blasts. He didn't shoot them, only held them in his hands as he stared at a calm-looking Valerie angrily.

"You won't become what? Just calm down, and talk to me. I won't hurt you if you don't hurt me." Valerie said. Phantom breathed in sharply, as if trying to calm himself down. He stood himself on the ground, his eyes still red. But he didn't attack. Only spoke.

"Become... Him. I won't. I refuse to... I promised... Promised_ her_." Valerie stared as Phantom continued to speak, as if anticipating the questions Valerie wanted to ask him. "Time showed me him. We all saw him. Even her. Almost died. But I helped save her." Phantom stopped speaking and looked at the ground, as if contemplating something. Once again, Valerie took the opportunity speak. Not something anyone would've expected either. Not even Valerie herself.

"I think grasshoppers go underground, or into trees when it gets wet out." Phantom gasped sharply, raising his head and looking directly into Valeries eyes. His own eyes faded to green as a soft smile broke out on his face, something the huntress was glad to see.

"So, Phantom... Can you tell me-..." But the ghost cut her off, only saying one word. And it wasn't a word, either. It was a name.

"Sam." Valerie drew in a quiet breath. Sam? As in, Sam Manson? Valerie picked her words carefully. She didn't want an angery Phantom on her hands.

"If... If you don't mind me asking... How did you know her?" Much to her surprise, the ghost grinned mischeviously, his tail flicking much like a cats.

"You don't know? Maybe I won't tell you then. Something to think on." He chuckled, swirling around her in a full circle before stopping and hovering in front of her again. Valerie grinned at him. She liked it when Phantom was like this. Playful, happy, and overall, almost exactly like he was way back when Sam, Tucker and them where still alive.

"C'mon, don't leave me hanging!" She said, happiness in her voice. Phantom laughed, surprising Valerie. He hadn't laughed like that since forever... Maybe she was finally getting through to him...

"'Kay then... I'll give you a hint... Fenton... Phantom... Sound alot alike, huh?" Valerie gasped. Was Phantom saying that... No... It couldn't be... Could it?

"D-danny?" Phantom laughed.

"I was beginning to wonder if you'd ever figure it out..." Phantom, or Danny, said, landing on the ground. Valerie frowned. The smile on the boys face was wrong. Completely wrong. "But I'm afraid Danny's gone. You see, all these years, it's been rather obvious to me of my slipping grip on sanity. This is all I have left." His eyes had flashed to red, but for a moment, they again flickered to green. "Please, Val. You protect Amity, right? Then protect it now." She watched as her old freind placed a hand around her gun, raising it until it was aligned with where his heart was or would be. She didn't know anymore, after all. He spoke again, and Valerie hated what it was that she heard.

"Protect Amity, Valerie. Protect it from the ghost thats hurting it. I know you don't want to, now, but it's all you have left to do to fix this broken place. I don't have what it takes to keep up this mad charade, faking mental stability and trying to gain back an old life. Nothing is left to keep me emotionally attached to this plain. On any level." He looked down at the ground, silver hair blocking his face. But Valerie could still see the smile plastered on it. "All it takes is one quick movement. One twitch of the finger, and I'm gone for good." Valerie choked. She had wanted a shot like this so many times, and now that she had it... She couldn't. It was Danny, the very same Danny that had supposedly died after Phantom seemed to lose his grip on reality. And he was asking her to kill him.

"I can't... Danny, I can't kill my best friend... I can't kill you..." Danny chuckled.

"I figured... I knew it, too... I shouldn't have asked... Here, just let _me _do it..." And he carefully moved her finger off the trigger, holding it to his chest with one hand, and holding the trigger with the other. Valerie was slipping into shock. Her best friend was vollunteering to kill himself? Danny seemed to pick up on this, and chuckled.

"Don't worry... If I really mean this much to you, you can always stick me... in this..." He made an odd movement, and a certain silver cylinder was rolled toward her feet. She gasped.

It was a fenton ghost thermos. She picked it up, and a weary smile met her face as she looked at her ghostly friend. She could watch him kill himself right in front of her, or she could put him into a thermos, and have him still exist, forever at her side. Both ways felt wrong to her, but she refused to let her best friend go after just finding him.

"So... Which is it...?" She heard him say. She pulled the cap off the thermous. It was a hard decision.

Valerie drew a breath inward as an idea appeared in her mind. Danny was like this because Vlad had killed all sorts of people, right? Because he blamed himself? She released the held breath. It was worth a shot.

"Danny..." She began to walk forward. Danny tilted his head to the side slightly, like a confused dog. "Y'know..."

Suddenly, Danny found himself locked in a deep hug with the red-clad huntress.

"Wha-" But Valerie cut him off.

"It's not your fault, Danny. You couldn't do anything... It's not your fault. But you tried; that's all that matters. It isn't your fault..." She continued her strange mantra until she felt Danny lean forward into the hug slightly, until she felt him go almost limp, his cheek brushing her own. Valerie noticed that he felt wrong. As if he was intangible, yet solid at the same time. He pulled away, walking backwards slowly. His face held a look of pure peace.

"Val..." He whispered. She had to strain just to hear him. "Thank you..." He was partly see-through, and fading fast. Valerie wanted to run up to him, but knew better. He was passing over. Not 'crossing', he had 'crossed' ages ago. It was 'passing' that most ghosts had trouble with; something or someone usually held them to the human realm. In Danny's case, it was his firm and solid belief that it was completely and entirely his fault that Tucker, Sam, the Fentons, and everyone else had gotten killed. All it would've taken to help him pass over was a friend, to reassure him that none of the fault was his. At least, in theory. But it had worked.

--

_Never gone, never far  
In my heart is where you are  
Always close (always close)  
Everyday (everyday)  
Every step along the way  
Even though for now we've gotta say goodbye  
I know you will be forever in my life (in my life yeah)_

_--_

In front of her, Danny had his eyes closed, head tilted forward slightly, as if to hide his smile. Valerie simpley stood and watched as Danny slowly turned to a silvery mist, scattering on the winds. In his place, a white rose with a black stem lay on the ground.

"Miss?" A smalll voice asked carefully, Valerie turned to see a young girl, clutching a tattered doll of the boy who had just passed on.

"Yeah?" She responded. The girl looked around.

"Is Mr. Phantom gone?" She sounded slightly hurt, as if she didn't want it to be true.

--

_Never gone from me  
If there's one thing I believe (I believe)  
I will see you somewhere down the road again_

--

_Never gone, never far  
In my heart is where you are  
Always close (always close)  
Everyday (everyday)  
Every step along the way  
Even though for now we've gotta say goodbye (yeah yeah)  
I know you will be forever in my life (in my life)_

--

Valerie picked up the rose, which had a greenish, ghost-like aura to it, and showed it to the girl.

"Phantom is gone, yeah... But not Danny. The hero of Amity Park is never gone." She looked up to the sky. "Never gone."

--

_Never gone, never far  
In my heart (in my heart is where) is where you are (you are)  
Always close, everyday  
Every step along the way_

Never gone, never far  
In my heart is where you are


End file.
